NMAA releases state soccer brackets

WINDOW ROCK – The New Mexico 12-team state brackets for boys and girls soccer were released on Sunday by the New Mexico Activities Association.

Six area teams earned bids as the playoffs gets underway on Tuesday starting with the 4A and 5A divisions. The Class A-3A will have its first-round games either on Friday or Saturday.

In each bracket the top four seeds will earn byes into the next round. The higher seeded teams will host the first two rounds before the remaining teams will play in title games on Nov. 8 for the Class A-3A division and Nov. 9 in the 4A, 5A classifications.

Of the six playoff teams, the Rehoboth Christian boys team earned the area’s highest seed as the Lynx were given the fifth seed in the 1A-3A classification.

Rehoboth (13-5-1) will make the five-hour trip to Roswell to play No. 4 seed New Mexico Military Institute (13-5) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“I’m just incredibly proud of the guys on their hard work and that’s why we got there,” Rehoboth coach Philip Frederiksen said.

The Lynx will have its hands full facing the Colts as NMMI enters the playoffs as the defending state champs.

“We lost to Sandia Prep in the (state) semifinals last year, and I actually watched the final game,” Frederiksen said. “Sandia Prep did well against them, but (the Colts) were a very aggressive attacking team. They’re well-coached and they clearly did what they wanted to do with the ball when they were moving forward. I expect a lot of the same this year.”

Frederiksen has not seen NMMI this season, so the Lynx have very little to go on entering Saturday’s game. Nonetheless, he expects it to be a battle.

“It’s just tricky to say a lot about them because they’re so far from us geographically,” the Rehoboth coach. “I’m looking at the scores and outcomes on MaxPreps and that’s the best I got. I do they know they’re a very attacking-minded team. They like to put the ball in the back of the net. It’ll be a matter of can we handle that pressure and maybe return some.”

In Class 4A, the Bloomfield boys earned the No. 12 seed despite winning the league title in District 1-4A. The Bobcats (10-9) play at No. 5 Chaparral (13-7) at 1 p.m. today.

In girls action, three teams in District 1-4A made the field headed by district champs Bloomfield. The Lady Bobcats (13-3-4) earned the No. 9 seed while Miyamura (12-6-1) received the No. 11 seed and Aztec (8-8-2) was given the 12th seed.

“That speaks really well for our district’s strength,” Miyamura girls coach Russell Jamison said.

Of the three teams, the Lady Bobcats has to make the longest drive (429 miles) to play the Santa Teresa Desert Warriors (14-4-2) today at 1 p.m.

Miyamura heads to Roswell to play Goddard (13-6-1) at 7 p.m. while Aztec travels to St. Pius X (12-8) for a 4 p.m. game.

“We all got tough draws, but I’m really happy that we showed well for our district,” Jamison said.

As for its draw, Jamison is expecting the Lady Rockets of Goddard to be a formidable opponent.

“They’re obviously ranked where they are for a reason,” Jamison said. “We’re a really young team. We have a lot of sophomores, three juniors and no seniors.

“We’re quite young, and that’s not going to be a benefit in a game like this,” he added. “But we’re going to do the best we can.”

Nonetheless, Jamison is proud of the way the team has bonded and gelled since the first day of practice.

“I’m really proud of that,” the Miyamura coach said. “They’re really in it for each other.

In 5A, the Farmington girls (11-8-2) earned the No. 11 seed as the Lady Scorps play at No. 6 Las Cruces Mayfield (15-2-3) at 7 p.m.

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